Shortly after the riots in Sri Lanka in July 1983 I happened to be staying in a monastery in Bandarawela district whose abbot was well-known for his anti-Tamil sentiments. One morning a group of men sat at his feet excitedly discussing the recent events. The abbot was giving his opinion and I recall one of the things he said was that the Tamils should be driven out and that if they didn’t go they should all be killed. As he proceeded he talked in an increasingly loud and violent manner. After about an hour of this a laymen in the front of the audience caught his attention and tapped his watch. The abbot looked up at the clock, saw that it was 11.35 am, drew his tirade to a close and hurried off to have his dana. The audience had clearly agreed with what the abbot had been saying but there certainly would have been mutters of disapproval had he not finished eating before noon. When the notorious monk Buddharakshita was in prison awaiting trial for murdering the then prime minister of Sri Lanka in 1959, the prison routine was changed so that he could have his dana before noon and most people thought this only proper. This ‘addiction to trivia,’ to use Thomas More’s phrase, is pervasive amongst Theravadins and blinds them to what really matters.

-Broken Buddha pg. 22

These riots seem to have been started by the Muslims when they raped and killed a Buddhist girl.

Equanimity is the ground. Love is the moisture. Compassion is the seed. Bodhicitta is the result.

"All memories and thoughts are the union of emptiness and knowing, the Mind.Without attachment, self-liberating, like a snake in a knot.Through the qualities of meditating in that way,Mental obscurations are purified and the dharmakaya is attained."

There may be very little that can be done but I urge everyone to write to their authorities and ask for diplomatic intervention, esp. as the local authorities in Rahkine seem incapable of stopping the violence. I have sent a message to Secretary Kerry asking for his immediate attention in this matter. It is a principle demonstrated by Amnesty International that attention focused on a specific issue or person can have an effect over time.

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.